Having reached level 40 on my Undead Hunter in 17 hours, the leveling speed of World of Warcraft doesn't feel too bad. At the same time, I'm acutely aware that I've 70 levels to go, and the mountain begins to feel pretty steep. With a hotfix having just gone live to attempt to speed up the leveling process when under 100, it feels like a bandaid to a complex solution.

Fundamentally, many agree that leveling feels slow, and for those who've done the process many times, is a laborious undertaking that shouldn't take as long as it does.

I'm of the opinion that leveling should take time, but deciding how long is a challenge. As World of Warcraft continues to increase its level cap, alienating new players with the task isn't a good idea, while it's important to allow existing players to re-roll without them feeling they have to devote weeks of their time to catch-up with their ‘main’.

If you also factor in the lucrative sale of Character Boosts, no doubt a significant revenue stream for Blizzard, the issue of leveling speed becomes much murkier. Simply put, if Blizzard make leveling too quick, they won't sell boosts.

Stormwind Stockade: Fun, but offering fuck all experience.

At this stage in World of Warcraft's lifespan, I think it's arguably more important to cater to existing players, rather than “new”. With Battlerite Royale titles hoovering up the younger generation, it's important for Blizzard to incentivise continued play for those heavily invested in the game.

When you've completed all that the game offers (and there are many who play WoW who have), leveling an alternative character becomes genuine content. To then protract this process, to the point where it's painfully slow, alienates both new and existing players.

As for my journey, I've definitely noticed progress slowing, and I'm averaging around 4 levels per zone. The strangest thing for me however, is the fact that dungeons offer so little. Having queued for random dungeons all weekend, and only participating in Stormwind Stockade (is this all people play?) I was shocked at how little experience you gain. In three runs, I made barely made half a level and spent considerable time not only completing the dungeon, but also queueing for it.

Stormind Stockade might not be challenging (honestly, it's frighteningly easy), but I would expect to be heartily rewarded for succeeding. Perhaps this is a rose-tinted memory, but I seem to remember gaining 1 level per dungeon run back in the day. For XP to have fallen so far seems bizarre, and it genuinely puts me off using dungeons as a method of supporting my questing.

What are your thoughts on experience gain in World of Warcraft at the moment? Do you think it needs increasing? Are you happy with the way it is? Let me know.

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